WHEN Rimmer’s men turned up to Sea Cop last Saturday, it looked like the only session of play likely would be in the bar.

But the persistence of Formby captain Dutton and the patience of the umpires saw that there was cricket on this miserable morning after all.

With a severely reduced game, the only option available, Formby won the toss and elected to bowl but things did not go immediately to plan.

An opening stand of 48 between Rimmer and Bimpson got Fleetwood off to a solid start before Bimpson fell to Rogan for 18.

Rogan pegged the home team back further by dismissing Rimmer himself for a well crafted 42, as well as claiming the wicket of under-achieving Sri Lankan Bodhisha for just 7.

Dutton then began to find his feet on a seamer friendly wicket, moving the ball both ways in a superb spell of 21 overs, five wickets for just 68 runs.

Fleetwood found the going tough and runs dried up dramatically, with Sykes, Wells, Newbold, Bowden and Mullen surrendering to Dutton.

Only Prince showed signs of resistance at the end with his 24 not out before Rimmer’s competitive declaration of 143.

The return innings of Formby could not have been scripted by the finest of dramatists.

With just 28 overs to chase their target, they had to move swiftly from ball one, costing Dutton his off stump to Prince for just nine.

Mullen was largely unplayable early in his spell and was unlucky not to bag any victims, and runs were hard to come by for the Formby top order.

They scraped to 54 before Bombas was run out, and the following ball Hadden holed out for a scrappy 34. Morris approached the wicket knowing he had to anchor the rest of the innings, and did so in typical fashion.

But vital wickets fell around him as Prince claimed Crilly, and Mullen was finally rewarded with two simple caught and bowled opportunities. Formby needed eight runs to win off the final over with Mullen bowling, which reduced itself to four off the final delivery. As Francis struck the ball towards the boundary, many hearts skipped a beat as Watts spilt it – only for a heroic full length stop from Andy Davis preventing his Fleetwood side losing. A great game that may never have been.

This week, Fleetwood travel to Trafalgar Road in the Echo Knockout on Friday, while St Helens Recs visit Sea Cop on Saturday.